Warner Bros. Drops Out of Calvin & Hobbs Movie

Warner Bros has pulled the plug on Kevin Clash's proposed movie project following reports linking the Sesame Street star with a sex scandal.

The voice actor and puppeteer was forced to resign from the PBS show last month after being accused of having sexual relations with underage boys.

Clash was developing a feature inspired by the Calvin and Hobbes comic strip, about a child whose imagination sees a stuffed toy take on a life of its own, but Warner has now cut all ties with the film, Vulture reports.

Dan Lin and Roy Lee were on board to produce the project, but it is unknown whether they will remain involved. Clash is also yet to confirm whether he plans on pitching the idea to other studios.

Clash denies the charges against him and expressed sadness upon his Sesame Street departure. His accuser ultimately dropped the claim, but similar reports from other alleged victims have since surfaced.

He is best known for serving the voice and puppeteer of Elmo from 1985 onwards.

And I like how this brief article is trying to make it sound worse than it was: he was "forced" to resign... yeah, that's right, in other words, he was simply fired for what he did, right? Classy.

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I could delve into all of that, but refuse to. Suffice to say, bigger celebrities than that did worse things and we forgot about them. Chuck Berry bought restaurants and put cameras in the ladies rooms of all of them. End of discussion. No more points made by anyone.

Secondly, I'm just as shocked as everyone else is.... The "I hate merchandise of any kind so much that I can't legally get rid of Calvin taking a leak on the Yankees logo because I don't want to be exactly like Garfield" guy licensed a movie with his characters? A MOVIE?!? I thought he was the J.D. Salinger of lighthearted comic strips. I can't believe he, or all people, would so much want a movie. There wasn't even a Calvin and Hobbs animated TV special, even though we all know it would have been awesome. Even The Far Side had animated specials.

I think the title of this thread is a little misleading, as the article says the movie is just inspired by Calvin and Hobbes, not an actual production based on the strip. I'm fairly sure Bill Watterson would never consent to a film production of his characters.

I don't blame Warner Brothers for wanting to drop the project while Kevin Clash deals with his personal problems; regardless of the truthfulness of the accusations against him, his name is rather infamous right now, plus he likely would not be able to devote his full attention to the project even if Warner Brothers went ahead with it.

I think the title of this thread is a little misleading, as the article says the movie is just inspired by Calvin and Hobbes, not an actual production based on the strip. I'm fairly sure Bill Watterson would never consent to a film production of his characters.

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That's what I thought. Though, if a film version of his works was even in the fleeting rumor stage, it would have been posted all over the place. It's the internet and fleeting rumors of anything being a movie are heard are plastered on every news site there is.

But it really is a shame that the creator is that Salinger-esque that we couldn't get a solid animation adaption of the property. Not even a half hour one.

At first I thought this whole article was a joke, since Bill Watterson objected to licensing the characters, and especially surprising that Kevin Clash would have been the one to have pitched/been in charge of it. This would have (likely) been the first time Clash pitched a production without involvement (I assume) from The Jim Henson Company, Sesame Workshop, or Muppets.

Then I saw that it was inspired by the comic strip. I wonder how similar it would have been.

Though I've read that Bill Watterson once actually did consider making an animated Calvin and Hobbes movie, as long as he did all the animation. Not sure how realistic that goal would have been. I think I've also seen a quote from Watterson saying that he was a bit scared of the idea even though he was considering it.

Though I've read that Bill Watterson once actually did consider making an animated Calvin and Hobbes movie, as long as he did all the animation. Not sure how realistic that goal would have been. I think I've also seen a quote from Watterson saying that he was a bit scared of the idea even though he was considering it.

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He certainly could have supervised the animation and had it based off his own written script. I'm just disappointed he wasn't open to so much as an animated short or 22 minute TV special.

But I think Charlie is up to something. This wasn't going to be Calvin and Hobbs movie, but rather a "Calvin and Hobbs inspired" film. That sounds more like an original project than a straight up adaption.

Especially, since I stress, if word of a Calvin and Hobbs movie broke out, the story would explode all over the internet, especially comic book/comic strip focused news sites.

Personally, that actually sounds like it could be more like a live-action Winnie the Pooh-inspired movie(Considering that Winnie the Pooh was pretty much a kids imagination and stuffed toys taking on a life of their own. His imagination was messed up but that's for another time). The only difference is THIS one is only ONE instead of many toys but I mean, same dang thing. I don't know if this would have been good to do anyways. It just seems like a way to capitalize on the movie 'Ted', where a kid grew up with his Teddy Bear who talked, than something different. The similarity is the fact that they both involve live-action, and stuffed objects that they can then sell to little kids and reap the profits off of it. The movie seems like it won't be THAT good but considering this was in pre-production, it could have been halfway decent. Also, having the voice of Elmo attached to it, would have provided a lot more credibility to the project considering that anything Elmo was attached to is VERY popular. BUT, who says that even WITHOUT the scandal, that this would have been made anyways?

Except I wouldn't let anyone under the age of (being very generous) 15 (when teenagers' minds are collectively in the gutter anyway) near Ted. I see no major reason why a kid friendly movie with a similar concept wouldn't work, vs the hundreds of poorly remade live action versions of cartoon shows and talking dog movies. The ones that all have the same butt sniffing humor.

The weird thing is, Ted perfectly satirized what that concept could be, and it felt like Seth's usual 1980's nostalgia appeal because it ruthlessly mocked all the childhood friend movies from the 80's. Just the concept of having him keep that friend the older you get. Why, that's Mac and Bloo in 15-20 years.

Though, whatever the heck is up with Kevin Clash, it's not like it's unheard of to just make a movie without the involvement of the original production team. Happens all the time. Dreamwork's upcoming Croods movie had an entirely different writing staff that left when Aardman and Dreamworks split after the 2 movies they made (Wallace and Grommit and Flushed Away). Just take his name off the script, get someone else to write and rewrite the script, and the film could happen no problem. It's a rotten thing to do, but it's Hollywood and that stuff tends to happen... a LOT.